Imagine an all-you-can-eat buffet spread at the counter of a bar. Little plates and little forks... and unlimited trips. The only catch is you need to buy a drink. Not bad... A drink and full dinner all for 10 euros approximately. Some places do charge a cover to enter, but that guarantees a delectable selection of the best variety of salada, pastas, and crostini.
Then if you're still hungry, why not head to dinner? Pizzerias are easy to come by in Rome, but they are mostly, according to some native Romans I talked to, tourist traps. For real Roman cuisine, head outside the center, or look for Pizzerias with Italians on the terraces and menus for less than 12 euros.
Trattorie were by far my favorite kind of restaurant option in Italy. The same tourist-trap rules apply. But when you find a family-owned, friendly, and unpretentious trattoria in whatever city you find yourself in... don't let go! Trattorie are friendly family-style establishments whose focus is not high-brow cooking, but simply making local comfort foods which please the clientele day after day and keep them coming back for more. A trattoria will be less formal than a ristorante but a bit more substancial than an "osteria."
A typical Roman Piazza in the evening. People chatting, getting ready to decide where to go for a meal.
Bruschette: Olive spread, fresh, sweet tomatoes, and artichoke spread on robust white bread.
Some typical Antipasti (appetizers) at pizzerias include these little delights, Supplì, which are made of seasoned rice, shaped into egg-shapes with cheese, then breaded and deep-fried.
These were my favorite: Fiori di Zucca. Zucchini flowers filled with anchovies and cheese then deep-fried to a golden perfection. People may ask for the Fiori to be filled with just cheese and no anchovies. I found I liked them with anchovies- they added a burst of saltiness at the end of the mouthful which was a nice contrast to the mild cheese and batter.
Pizza Capricciosa: mozzarella, tomatoes, artichokes, olives, ham, egg
Notice the thin crusts and sparse ingredients.
A white pizza is just as common and well-liked as a red pizza. A white pizza is just cheese and no tomato sauce. This one was a creamy and salty delight. Quattro formaggi e funghi. (four cheeses and mushrooms)
Something which completely took me by surprise was the pasta- which came at the beginning of the meal as a first course and not as an entrée (the english meaning, the main course.) The portions were always huge. Just good pasta with the sauce and that's it. By the time I was done, I didn't have any more room for the main course! (And there, you would have a wide array of meats an more delicious sauces)
Carbonara. The photo does not do it justice, the color was rich and vibrant. I can't even begin to describe how creamy the sauce was.
What made this thick pasta so delicious was the black pepper sauce.
The airiest, most simply delicious tiramisu. No frills, just homemade cream and strong coffee flavor. This trattoria was about 40 minutes away from the main station, Termini.
No evening meal could be complete without a bit of citrus delight. Limoncello, the classic and well-known digestif was as good as I imagined it to be. I had never had it before, and it was a perfect cap to a delicious meal.
